CHAPTER VIII - Beyond Our Lifetime

The Observation Dome had once been among the busiest sectors of the Delta Complex.

During the final decades of civilization, researchers, atmospheric analysts, orbital engineers, and systems observers had occupied the immense chamber around the clock. Thousands of screens had once filled the curved walls, displaying conditions across every continent, every ocean, every surviving network connected to the dying world above.

Most of those displays were dark now.

Entire sections of the dome had long since been deactivated to conserve energy. Rows of observation stations stood abandoned beneath layers of dust while inactive holographic projectors rested silently above the floor. Only a handful of systems remained operational, drawing power from the increasingly fragile infrastructure that still supported Delta.

Beyond the transparent observation barrier stretched the northern horizon.